As St. Louis leaders are looking to turn the city into the fastest-growing metro region for immigrants in the next few years to spur economic growth, a new report shows that a majority of the city's foreign-born residents don't own their own homes.

The Immigrant Housing Project's report, researched by a coalition of local organizations, finds that less than 40 percent of St. Louis' foreign-born community are homeowners, a far lower rate than native-born residents (at 46 percent). It's also a lower rate compared with immigrants across the country (52.4 percent).

Foreign-born residents make up only 6.83 percent of the city's population, or about 21,700 people, and in fact, recent Census data show the city is losing immigrants. But recent reports say having more immigrants actually